New Delhi (NVI): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today said that coronavirus vaccine will be provided free of cost across the country.
The Health Minister made the statement while talking to the media after reviewing the dry run of administering the COVID-19 vaccine at Maternity & Child Welfare (MCW) Centre in Daryaganj.
Asked if the COVID-19 vaccine will be provided free of cost, like in Delhi, Vardhan replied that, “Not just in Delhi, it will be free across the country.”
The Health Minister took to twitter and stated, “In 1st phase of #COVID19Vaccination free #vaccine shall be provided across the nation to most prioritised beneficiaries that incl 1 crore healthcare & 2 crore frontline workers.”
“Details of how further 27 cr priority beneficiaries are to be vaccinated until July are being finalised,” he added.
In 1st phase of #COVID19Vaccination free #vaccine shall be provided across the nation to most prioritised beneficiaries that incl 1 crore healthcare & 2 crore frontline workers
Details of how further 27 cr priority beneficiaries are to be vaccinated until July are being finalised pic.twitter.com/K7NrzGrgk3— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) January 2, 2021
Vardhan also reviewed the dry run of administering the COVID-19 vaccine at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital in Delhi today.
Earlier today, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the coronavirus vaccine will be provided free of cost in the national capital.
Reviewed the dry run of the corona vaccination process today. The vaccine will be provided free of cost in Delhi. 1000 centers will be set up for this task. 1 lakh people from phase-1 will be vaccinated on a daily basis. Delhi Govt is completely ready for the rollout. pic.twitter.com/xupA1tjRAi
— Satyendar Jain (@SatyendarJain) January 2, 2021
The dry run is being conducted by all the states and Union Territories from today. Vaccination drill is being conducted in all states/UTs today in 116 districts across 259 sites.
In Delhi, the drive is being conducted at three locations — the Daryaganj primary health centre, the government-run Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and the private Venkateshwara hospital.
According to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), the objective of the dry run for COVID-19 vaccine introduction is to assess operational feasibility in the use of COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) application in a field environment, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide the way forward prior to actual implementation.
Notably, the coronavirus vaccine is slated to be rolled out soon as the one developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca has been recommended by an expert panel, tasked with vetting Covid-19 vaccine proposals, and forwarded to the Drug Controller General of India for approval.
-CHK
